School utility costs

AN ACT Relating to addressing increased school utility costs due 1
to the climate commitment act; amending RCW 70A.65.260 and 2
28A.150.260; and providing an effective date. 3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:4
Sec. 1. RCW 70A.65.260 and 2025 c 424 s 974 are each amended to 5
read as follows: 6
(1) The climate commitment account is created in the state 7
treasury. The account must receive moneys distributed to the account 8
from the climate investment account created in RCW 70A.65.250. Moneys 9
in the account may be spent only after appropriation. Projects, 10
activities, and programs eligible for funding from the account must 11
be physically located in Washington state and include, but are not 12
limited to, the following: 13
(a) Implementing the working families' tax credit in RCW 14
82.08.0206; 15
(b) Supplementing the growth management planning and 16
environmental review fund established in RCW 36.70A.490 for the 17
purpose of making grants or loans to local governments for the 18
purposes set forth in RCW 43.21C.240, 43.21C.031, 36.70A.500, and 19
36.70A.600, for costs associated with RCW 36.70A.610, and to cover 20
H-2679.1
HOUSE BILL 2234
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2026 Regular Session
By Representatives Walsh, Ley, Schmidt, Jacobsen, Chase, Marshall,
McClintock, Graham, and Couture
Prefiled 12/31/25. Read first time 01/12/26. Referred to Committee
on Appropriations.
p. 1 HB 2234
costs associated with the adoption of optional elements of 1
comprehensive plans consistent with RCW 43.21C.420;2
(c) Programs, activities, or projects that reduce and mitigate 3
impacts from greenhouse gases and copollutants in overburdened 4
communities, including strengthening the air quality monitoring 5
network to measure, track, and better understand air pollution levels 6
and trends and to inform the analysis, monitoring, and pollution 7
reduction measures required in RCW 70A.65.020; 8
(d) Programs, activities, or projects that deploy renewable 9
energy resources, such as solar and wind power, and projects to 10
deploy distributed generation, energy storage, demand-side 11
technologies and strategies, and other grid modernization projects;12
(e) Programs, activities, or projects that increase the energy 13
efficiency or reduce greenhouse gas emissions of industrial 14
facilities including, but not limited to, proposals to implement 15
combined heat and power, district energy, or on-site renewables, such 16
as solar and wind power, to upgrade the energy efficiency of existing 17
equipment, to reduce process emissions, and to switch to less 18
emissions intensive fuel sources; 19
(f) Programs, activities, or projects that achieve energy 20
efficiency or emissions reductions in the agricultural sector 21
including: 22
(i) Fertilizer management; 23
(ii) Soil management; 24
(iii) Bioenergy; 25
(iv) Biofuels; 26
(v) Grants, rebates, and other financial incentives for 27
agricultural harvesting equipment, heavy duty trucks, agricultural 28
pump engines, tractors, and other equipment used in agricultural 29
operations; 30
(vi) Grants, loans, or any financial incentives to food 31
processors to implement projects that reduce greenhouse gas 32
emissions; 33
(vii) Renewable energy projects; 34
(viii) Farmworker housing weatherization programs;35
(ix) Dairy digester research and development; 36
(x) Alternative manure management; and 37
(xi) Eligible fund uses under RCW 89.08.615; 38
(g) Programs, activities, or projects that increase energy 39
efficiency in new and existing buildings, or that promote low carbon 40
p. 2 HB 2234
architecture, including use of newly emerging alternative building 1
materials that result in a lower carbon footprint in the built 2
environment over the life cycle of the building and component 3
building materials; 4
(h) Programs, activities, or projects that promote the 5
electrification and decarbonization of new and existing buildings, 6
including residential, commercial, and industrial buildings;7
(i) Programs, activities, or projects that improve energy 8
efficiency, including district energy, and investments in market 9
transformation of high efficiency electric appliances and equipment 10
for space and water heating; 11
(j) Clean energy transition and assistance programs, activities, 12
or projects that assist affected workers or people with lower incomes 13
during the transition to a clean energy economy, or grow and expand 14
clean manufacturing capacity in communities across Washington state 15
including, but not limited to: 16
(i) Programs, activities, or projects that directly improve 17
energy affordability and reduce the energy burden of people with 18
lower incomes, as well as the higher transportation fuel burden of 19
rural residents, such as bill assistance, energy efficiency, and 20
weatherization programs; 21
(ii) Community renewable energy projects that allow qualifying 22
participants to own or receive the benefits of those projects at 23
reduced or no cost; 24
(iii) Programs, activities, or other worker-support projects for 25
bargaining unit and nonsupervisory fossil fuel workers who are 26
affected by the transition away from fossil fuels to a clean energy 27
economy. Worker support may include, but is not limited to: (A) Full 28
wage replacement, health benefits, and pension contributions for 29
every worker within five years of retirement; (B) full wage 30
replacement, health benefits, and pension contributions for every 31
worker with at least one year of service for each year of service up 32
to five years of service; (C) wage insurance for up to five years for 33
workers reemployed who have more than five years of service; (D) up 34
to two years of retraining costs, including tuition and related 35
costs, based on in-state community and technical college costs; (E) 36
peer counseling services during transition; (F) employment placement 37
services, prioritizing employment in the clean energy sector; and (G) 38
relocation expenses; 39
p. 3 HB 2234
(iv) Direct investment in workforce development, via technical 1
education, community college, institutions of higher education, 2
apprenticeships, and other programs including, but not limited to:3
(A) Initiatives to develop a forest health workforce established 4
under RCW 76.04.521; and 5
(B) Initiatives to develop new education programs, emerging 6
fields, or jobs pertaining to the clean energy economy;7
(v) Transportation, municipal service delivery, and technology 8
investments that increase a community's capacity for clean 9
manufacturing, with an emphasis on communities in greatest need of 10
job creation and economic development and potential for commute 11
reduction; 12
(k) Programs, activities, or projects that reduce emissions from 13
landfills and waste-to-energy facilities through diversion of organic 14
materials, methane capture or conversion strategies, installation of 15
gas collection devices and gas control systems, monitoring and 16
reporting of methane emissions, or other means, prioritizing funding 17
needed for any activities by local governments to comply with chapter 18
70A.540 RCW; 19
(l) Carbon dioxide removal projects, programs, and activities; 20
((and))21
(m) Activities to support efforts to mitigate and adapt to the 22
effects of climate change affecting Indian tribes, including capital 23
investments in support of the relocation of Indian tribes located in 24
areas at heightened risk due to anticipated sea level rise, flooding, 25
or other disturbances caused by climate change. The legislature 26
intends to dedicate at least $50,000,000 per biennium from the 27
account for purposes of this subsection; and28
(n) Allocations under RCW 28A.150.260(8) to offset increased 29
utility costs experienced by schools due to the Washington climate 30
commitment act, as codified in this chapter, and related 31
environmental regulatory burdens. 32
(2) Moneys in the account may not be used for projects or 33
activities that would violate tribal treaty rights or result in 34
significant long-term damage to critical habitat or ecological 35
functions. Investments from this account must result in long-term 36
environmental benefits and increased resilience to the impacts of 37
climate change. 38
(3) During the 2023-2025 and 2025-2027 fiscal biennia, the 39
legislature may appropriate moneys from the climate commitment 40
p. 4 HB 2234
account for activities related to environmental justice, including 1
implementation of chapter 314, Laws of 2021. 2
Sec. 2. RCW 28A.150.260 and 2025 c 334 s 1 are each amended to 3
read as follows: 4
The purpose of this section is to provide for the allocation of 5
state funding that the legislature deems necessary to support school 6
districts in offering the minimum instructional program of basic 7
education under RCW 28A.150.220. The allocation shall be determined 8
as follows: 9
(1) The governor shall and the superintendent of public 10
instruction may recommend to the legislature a formula for the 11
distribution of a basic education instructional allocation for each 12
common school district. 13
(2)(a) The distribution formula under this section shall be for 14
allocation purposes only. Except as may be required under subsections 15
(4)(b) and (c), (5)(b) and (c), (8), and (9) of this section, chapter 16
28A.155, 28A.165, 28A.180, or 28A.185 RCW, or federal laws and 17
regulations, nothing in this section requires school districts to use 18
basic education instructional funds to implement a particular 19
instructional approach or service. Nothing in this section requires 20
school districts to maintain a particular classroom teacher-to-21
student ratio or other staff-to-student ratio or to use allocated 22
funds to pay for particular types or classifications of staff. 23
Nothing in this section entitles an individual teacher to a 24
particular teacher planning period. 25
(b) To promote transparency in state funding allocations, the 26
superintendent of public instruction must report state per-pupil 27
allocations for each school district for the general apportionment, 28
special education, learning assistance, transitional bilingual, 29
highly capable, and career and technical education programs. The 30
superintendent must report this information in a user-friendly format 31
on the main page of the office's website. School districts must 32
include a link to the superintendent's per-pupil allocations report 33
on the main page of the school district's website. In addition, the 34
budget documents published by the legislature for the enacted omnibus 35
operating appropriations act must report statewide average per-pupil 36
allocations for general apportionment and the categorical programs 37
listed in this subsection. 38
p. 5 HB 2234
(3)(a) To the extent the technical details of the formula have 1
been adopted by the legislature and except when specifically provided 2
as a school district allocation, the distribution formula for the 3
basic education instructional allocation shall be based on minimum 4
staffing and nonstaff costs the legislature deems necessary to 5
support instruction and operations in prototypical schools serving 6
high, middle, and elementary school students as provided in this 7
section. The use of prototypical schools for the distribution formula 8
does not constitute legislative intent that schools should be 9
operated or structured in a similar fashion as the prototypes. 10
Prototypical schools illustrate the level of resources needed to 11
operate a school of a particular size with particular types and grade 12
levels of students using commonly understood terms and inputs, such 13
as class size, hours of instruction, and various categories of school 14
staff. It is the intent that the funding allocations to school 15
districts be adjusted from the school prototypes based on the actual 16
number of annual average full-time equivalent students in each grade 17
level at each school in the district and not based on the grade-level 18
configuration of the school to the extent that data is available. The 19
allocations shall be further adjusted from the school prototypes with 20
minimum allocations for small schools and to reflect other factors 21
identified in the omnibus appropriations act. 22
(b) For the purposes of this section, prototypical schools are 23
defined as follows: 24
(i) A prototypical high school has 600 average annual full-time 25
equivalent students in grades nine through 12; 26
(ii) A prototypical middle school has 432 average annual full-27
time equivalent students in grades seven and eight; and28
(iii) A prototypical elementary school has 400 average annual 29
full-time equivalent students in grades kindergarten through six.30
(4)(a)(i) The minimum allocation for each level of prototypical 31
school shall be based on the number of full-time equivalent classroom 32
teachers needed to provide instruction over the minimum required 33
annual instructional hours under RCW 28A.150.220 and provide at least 34
one teacher planning period per school day, and based on the 35
following general education average class size of full-time 36
equivalent students per teacher: 37
General education38
average class size39
p. 6 HB 2234
Grades K-3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17.001
Grade 4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27.002
Grades 5-6. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27.003
Grades 7-8. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28.534
Grades 9-12. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28.745
(ii) The minimum class size allocation for each prototypical high 6
school shall also provide for enhanced funding for class size 7
reduction for two laboratory science classes within grades nine 8
through 12 per full-time equivalent high school student multiplied by 9
a laboratory science course factor of 0.0833, based on the number of 10
full-time equivalent classroom teachers needed to provide instruction 11
over the minimum required annual instructional hours in RCW 12
28A.150.220, and providing at least one teacher planning period per 13
school day: 14
Laboratory science15
average class size16
Grades 9-12. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19.9817
(b)(i) Beginning September 1, 2019, funding for average K-3 class 18
sizes in this subsection (4) may be provided only to the extent of, 19
and proportionate to, the school district's demonstrated actual class 20
size in grades K-3, up to the funded class sizes. 21
(ii) The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall 22
develop rules to implement this subsection (4)(b).23
(c)(i) The minimum allocation for each prototypical middle and 24
high school shall also provide for full-time equivalent classroom 25
teachers based on the following number of full-time equivalent 26
students per teacher in career and technical education:27
Career and technical28
education average29
class size30
Approved career and technical education offered at31
the middle school and high school level. . . . . . . . . . . . 23.0032
Skill center programs meeting the standards established33
by the office of the superintendent of public 34
instruction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19.0035
(ii) Funding allocated under this subsection (4)(c) is subject to 36
RCW 28A.150.265. 37
p. 7 HB 2234
(d) In addition, the omnibus appropriations act shall at a 1
minimum specify: 2
(i) A high-poverty average class size in schools where more than 3
50 percent of the students are eligible for free and reduced-price 4
meals; and 5
(ii) A specialty average class size for advanced placement and 6
international baccalaureate courses. 7
(5)(a) The minimum allocation for each level of prototypical 8
school shall include allocations for the following types of staff in 9
addition to classroom teachers: 10
11
12
Elementary
School
Middle
School
High
School
13
14
Principals, assistant principals, and other certificated building-level
administrators. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1.253

1.353

1.880
15
16
Teacher-librarians, a function that includes information literacy, technology,
and media to support school library media programs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

0.663

0.519

0.523
17
18
Paraeducators, including any aspect of educational instructional services
provided by classified employees. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1.012

0.776

0.728
19 Office support and other noninstructional aides. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.088 2.401 3.345
20 Custodians. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.657 1.942 2.965
21 Nurses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.585 0.888 0.824
22 Social workers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.311 0.088 0.127
23 Psychologists. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.104 0.024 0.049
24 Counselors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.993 1.716 3.039
25 Classified staff providing student and staff safety. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.079 0.092 0.141
26 Parent involvement coordinators. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0825 0.00 0.00
(b)(i) The superintendent may only allocate funding, up to the 27
combined minimum allocations, for nurses, social workers, 28
psychologists, counselors, classified staff providing student and 29
staff safety, and parent involvement coordinators under (a) of this 30
subsection to the extent of and proportionate to a school district's 31
demonstrated actual ratios of: Full-time equivalent physical, social, 32
and emotional support staff to full-time equivalent students.33
(ii) The superintendent must adopt rules to implement this 34
subsection (5)(b) and the rules must require school districts to 35
prioritize funding allocated as required by (b)(i) of this subsection 36
p. 8 HB 2234
for physical, social, and emotional support staff who hold a valid 1
educational staff associate certificate appropriate for the staff's 2
role. 3
(iii) For the purposes of this subsection (5)(b), "physical, 4
social, and emotional support staff" include nurses, social workers, 5
psychologists, counselors, classified staff providing student and 6
staff safety, parent involvement coordinators, and other school 7
district employees and contractors who provide physical, social, and 8
emotional support to students as defined by the superintendent.9
(c) The superintendent shall develop rules that require school 10
districts to use the additional funding provided under (a) of this 11
subsection to support increased staffing, prevent layoffs, or 12
increase salaries for the following staff types in the 2024-25 school 13
year: Paraeducators, office support, and noninstructional aides. The 14
superintendent shall collect data from school districts on how the 15
increased allocations are used. 16
(6)(a) The minimum staffing allocation for each school district 17
to provide district -wide support services shall be allocated per one 18
thousand annual average full -time equivalent students in grades K -12 19
as follows: 20
Staff per 1,00021
K-12 students22
Technology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.62823
Facilities, maintenance, and grounds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.81324
Warehouse, laborers, and mechanics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.33225
(b) The minimum allocation of staff units for each school 26
district to support certificated and classified staffing of central 27
administration shall be 5.30 percent of the staff units generated 28
under subsections (4)(a) and (5) of this section and (a) of this 29
subsection. 30
(7) The distribution formula shall include staffing allocations 31
to school districts for career and technical education and skill 32
center administrative and other school-level certificated staff, as 33
specified in the omnibus appropriations act. 34
(8)(a) Except as provided in (b) and (c) of this subsection, the 35
minimum allocation for each school district shall be $1,614.28 per 36
full-time equivalent student for materials, supplies, and operating 37
costs to be adjusted annually for inflation beginning in the 2026-27 38
school year. For purposes of this subsection, "inflation" means the 39
p. 9 HB 2234
implicit price deflator for the previous calendar year as of the 1
beginning of the school year, using the official current base, 2
compiled by the bureau of economic analysis, United States department 3
of commerce. 4
(b) In addition to the amount provided in (a) of this subsection, 5
each school district shall receive a minimum allocation of $214.84 6
for each full-time equivalent student in grades nine through 12 for 7
materials, supplies, and operating costs, to be adjusted annually for 8
inflation beginning in the 2026-27 school year. For purposes of this 9
subsection, "inflation" means the implicit price deflator for the 10
previous calendar year as of the beginning of the school year, using 11
the official current base, compiled by the bureau of economic 12
analysis, United States department of commerce. 13
(c) Beginning in the 2026-27 school year, in addition to the 14
amount provided in (a) of this subsection, each school district shall 15
receive a minimum allocation of $95 per full-time equivalent student 16
for materials, supplies, and operating costs, to be adjusted annually 17
for inflation from the 2026-27 school year. The additional amount 18
provided under this subsection is intended to address increased 19
utility costs due to the Washington climate commitment act and 20
related environmental regulatory burdens and may not be expended for 21
any other purpose. Allocations provided under this subsection (8)(c) 22
must come from the climate commitment account created in RCW 23
70A.65.260.24
(d) The increased allocation amounts of $35.27 per full-time 25
equivalent student provided under (a) of this subsection and $4.69 26
per full-time equivalent student in grades nine through 12 provided 27
under (b) of this subsection are intended to address growing 28
materials, supplies, and operating costs and may not be expended for 29
any other purpose. 30
(((d))) (e)(i) Beginning in the 2026-27 school year, each school 31
district shall annually report all expenditures for materials, 32
supplies, and operating costs including, but not limited to, 33
expenditures in the following disaggregated categories, to the office 34
of the superintendent of public instruction: 35
(A) Technology, including further disaggregation within this 36
category for technology devices, technology support staff, software 37
licensing, and technology or software maintenance and repair;38
(B) Election fees associated with school district board of 39
directors elections; 40
p. 10 HB 2234
(C) Utilities; 1
(D) Insurance; 2
(E) Curriculum and textbooks not included under the technology 3
category; 4
(F) Library materials not included under the technology category;5
(G) Other supplies not included under other categories;6
(H) Nontechnology-related contracted instructional professional 7
development for certificated and classified staff; 8
(I) Facilities maintenance materials, supplies, and operating 9
costs not funded by transfers from other funds; 10
(J) Security and central office administration;11
(K) Dues and fees; and 12
(L) Property and equipment not funded by transfers from other 13
funds. 14
(ii) The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall 15
report additional categories as determined necessary to meet other 16
state and federal reporting requirements. 17
(9) In addition to the amounts provided in subsection (8) of this 18
section and subject to RCW 28A.150.265, the omnibus appropriations 19
act shall provide an amount based on full-time equivalent student 20
enrollment in each of the following: 21
(a) Exploratory career and technical education courses for 22
students in grades seven through 12; 23
(b) Preparatory career and technical education courses for 24
students in grades nine through 12 offered in a high school; and25
(c) Preparatory career and technical education courses for 26
students in grades 11 and 12 offered through a skill center.27
(10) In addition to the allocations otherwise provided under this 28
section, amounts shall be provided to support the following programs 29
and services: 30
(a)(i) To provide supplemental instruction and services for 31
students who are not meeting academic standards through the learning 32
assistance program under RCW 28A.165.005 through 28A.165.065, 33
allocations shall be based on the greater of either: The district 34
percentage of students in kindergarten through grade 12 who were 35
eligible for free or reduced-price meals for the school year 36
immediately preceding the district's participation, in whole or part, 37
in the United States department of agriculture's community 38
eligibility provision, or the district percentage of students in 39
grades K-12 who were eligible for free or reduced-price meals in the 40
p. 11 HB 2234
prior school year. The minimum allocation for the program shall, 1
except as provided in (a)(iii) of this subsection, provide for each 2
level of prototypical school resources to provide, on a statewide 3
average, 2.3975 hours per week in extra instruction with a class size 4
of 15 learning assistance program students per teacher.5
(ii) In addition to funding allocated under (a)(i) of this 6
subsection, to provide supplemental instruction and services for 7
students who are not meeting academic standards in qualifying 8
schools. A qualifying school, except as provided in (a)(iv) of this 9
subsection, means a school in which the three-year rolling average of 10
the prior year total annual average enrollment that qualifies for 11
free or reduced-price meals equals or exceeds 50 percent or more of 12
its total annual average enrollment. A school continues to meet the 13
definition of a qualifying school if the school: Participates in the 14
United States department of agriculture's community eligibility 15
provision; and met the definition of a qualifying school in the year 16
immediately preceding their participation. The minimum allocation for 17
this additional high poverty-based allocation must provide for each 18
level of prototypical school resources to provide, on a statewide 19
average, 1.1 hours per week in extra instruction with a class size of 20
15 learning assistance program students per teacher, under RCW 21
28A.165.055, school districts must distribute the high poverty-based 22
allocation to the schools that generated the funding allocation.23
(iii) For the 2024-25 and 2025-26 school years, allocations under 24
(a)(i) of this subsection for school districts providing meals at no 25
charge to students under RCW 28A.235.135 that are not participating, 26
in whole or in part, in the United States department of agriculture's 27
community eligibility provision shall be based on the school district 28
percentage of students in grades K-12 who were eligible for free or 29
reduced-price meals in school years 2019-20 through 2022-23 or the 30
prior school year, whichever is greatest. 31
(iv) For the 2024-25 and 2025-26 school years, a school providing 32
meals at no charge to students under RCW 28A.235.135 that is not 33
participating in the department of agriculture's community 34
eligibility provision continues to meet the definition of a 35
qualifying school under (a)(ii) of this subsection if the school met 36
the definition during one year of the 2019-20 through 2022-23 school 37
years, or in the prior school year. 38
(b)(i) To provide supplemental instruction and services for 39
students whose primary language is other than English, allocations 40
p. 12 HB 2234
shall be based on the head count number of students in each school 1
who are eligible for and enrolled in the transitional bilingual 2
instruction program under RCW 28A.180.010 through 28A.180.080. The 3
minimum allocation for each level of prototypical school shall 4
provide resources to provide, on a statewide average, 4.7780 hours 5
per week in extra instruction for students in grades kindergarten 6
through six and 6.7780 hours per week in extra instruction for 7
students in grades seven through 12, with 15 transitional bilingual 8
instruction program students per teacher. Notwithstanding other 9
provisions of this subsection (10), the actual per-student allocation 10
may be scaled to provide a larger allocation for students needing 11
more intensive intervention and a commensurate reduced allocation for 12
students needing less intensive intervention, as detailed in the 13
omnibus appropriations act. 14
(ii) To provide supplemental instruction and services for 15
students who have exited the transitional bilingual program, 16
allocations shall be based on the head count number of students in 17
each school who have exited the transitional bilingual program within 18
the previous two years based on their performance on the English 19
proficiency assessment and are eligible for and enrolled in the 20
transitional bilingual instruction program under RCW 21
28A.180.040(1)(g). The minimum allocation for each prototypical 22
school shall provide resources to provide, on a statewide average, 23
3.0 hours per week in extra instruction with 15 exited students per 24
teacher. 25
(c) To provide additional allocations to support programs for 26
highly capable students under RCW 28A.185.010 through 28A.185.030, 27
allocations shall be based on 5.0 percent of each school district's 28
full-time equivalent basic education enrollment. The minimum 29
allocation for the programs shall provide resources to provide, on a 30
statewide average, 2.1590 hours per week in extra instruction with 31
fifteen highly capable program students per teacher.32
(11) The allocations under subsections (4)(a), (5), (6), and (8) 33
of this section shall be enhanced as provided under RCW 28A.150.390 34
on an excess cost basis to provide supplemental instructional 35
resources for students with disabilities. 36
(12)(a) For the purposes of allocations for prototypical high 37
schools and middle schools under subsections (4) and (10) of this 38
section that are based on the percent of students in the school who 39
are eligible for free and reduced-price meals, the actual percent of 40
p. 13 HB 2234
such students in a school shall be adjusted by a factor identified in 1
the omnibus appropriations act to reflect underreporting of free and 2
reduced-price meal eligibility among middle and high school students.3
(b) Allocations or enhancements provided under subsections (4), 4
(7), and (9) of this section for exploratory and preparatory career 5
and technical education courses shall be provided only for courses 6
approved by the office of the superintendent of public instruction 7
under chapter 28A.700 RCW. 8
(13)(a) This formula for distribution of basic education funds 9
shall be reviewed biennially by the superintendent and governor. The 10
recommended formula shall be subject to approval, amendment or 11
rejection by the legislature. 12
(b) In the event the legislature rejects the distribution formula 13
recommended by the governor, without adopting a new distribution 14
formula, the distribution formula for the previous school year shall 15
remain in effect. 16
(c) The enrollment of any district shall be the annual average 17
number of full-time equivalent students and part-time students as 18
provided in RCW 28A.150.350, enrolled on the first school day of each 19
month, including students who are in attendance pursuant to RCW 20
28A.335.160 and 28A.225.250 who do not reside within the servicing 21
school district. The definition of full-time equivalent student shall 22
be determined by rules of the superintendent of public instruction 23
and shall be included as part of the superintendent's biennial budget 24
request. The definition shall be based on the minimum instructional 25
hour offerings required under RCW 28A.150.220. Any revision of the 26
present definition shall not take effect until approved by the house 27
ways and means committee and the senate ways and means committee.28
(d) The office of financial management shall make a monthly 29
review of the superintendent's reported full-time equivalent students 30
in the common schools in conjunction with RCW 43.62.050.31
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. Section 2 of this act takes effect 32
September 1, 2026.33
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p. 14 HB 2234